Seriously, I don't know what is wrong with Indonesian people. Having been screwed around, woken up, turned around and screwed once more you are really happy to be out of that country. Well, shouldn't be so harsh as I've only been to Sumatra, but especially in Medan you would probably be better off selling a kidney in the black market and having them to drop you off in some remote area of Malaysia than trying to arrange anything with the "help" of locals.
We arrived to Medan after a few relaxing days at Lake Toba and this time the direct bus for the whole route was 20k IDR each as compared to the 120k indirect route that we had the joy of having on our way there. Unable to put things down on paper as I am we took a cab that would most certainly take us to the guest house of our choosing. Sure, 40k is an OK price. Let's go.
After explaining the name of the hotel on a two-way radio to someone at the other end, I was already pretty certain that it wouldn't end well. But after 15 minutes more of random driving the driver hands me a cell phone and there is an English speaking person (by their definition at least) on the other end saying that because our destination is far away, the driver wants 100k. Quite bluntly I said that it's not okay and that a deal is a deal. And the deal was 40k to our hotel. So the conversation ended and we were driving on a good-for-nothing road at a slow speed and when the driver finally saw a hotel he took us there. Well, it wasn't exactly what we had planned but at least we were able to use the Internet there to acquire the full address of the place. And then the driver wanted to have 30k extra because he had already driven us there and now he would have to go to the other direction. We "packed our bags" and came to an understanding that he would take us there and we would pay the amount we had originally agreed on. Guess you need to sink to their level to be actually on par with them. Just have to be mindful that they will most likely still beat you with experience, but luckily he agreed to take us there without any advance payments (which we definitely wouldn't have paid anyway).
Arriving to the destination 40 minutes later, I just gave him 40k and exited the vehicle. It took him some time to count the money but surely he came after us. We checked out the room and he was waiting at the downstairs restaurant. We were discussing the matter with the hotel owner and he was quite understanding. After that we came down, just ignored him, checked in and went back to our room to wash up and change some fresh garments on. I guess his motivation ran out eventually as he wasn't there anymore an hour later and we were free to go to have some dinner and get some money from the ATM to pay for our ferry tickets to Penang.
And did everything go as planned in the morning? Sure, except that the guy disappeared for a while with our passports, the tuk-tuk driver apparently didn't take us to the right place or the arrangements were otherwise faulty as we still had to do some extra digging and nagging to actually get the free transportation to Belawan that was promised to us. The ferry left almost two hours late, but after finally having the Malaysian immigration stamps on our passports we could finally relax. Acceptable accommodation and great Indian food make a good foundation for good nights sleep.
tiistai 29. joulukuuta 2009
torstai 24. joulukuuta 2009
Christmas update
Oh cool, a month already since my last post. I've been on the road for a while, visiting Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta with a friend and now we've arrived in Lake Toba. And what a journey it was.
First of all we got pretty cheap flights on two days notice from Phuket to Medan and thusly our journey here started with a wake-up at 6am to make sure we catch the ferry from Koh Lanta to Phuket. There were no problems with that and even the airport transportation worked flawlessly. Not minding the surprising running away of the cashier before giving back our change but apparently she just needed to change the large note to some smaller ones. Letting us know beforehand about her plan would have been a bit more settling and would have probably saved the dumbstruck look in our faces when we were just left there ticketless and without our money. But we got to the airport on time and the flight departed pretty much as planned. And getting the visas on arrival was no problem either as experienced from the last time we had US Dollars with us. But gradually the things started going downhill from that point on. The local minivan/bus to the Amplas bus station went smoothly but apparently there weren't any public buses (26k IDR) going to Parapat anymore so we had to settle for a more expensive option of paying almost four times as much for "luxury VIP AC transportation straight to the ferry terminal" by our dearly beloved Mr. Reagan who you should probably avoid at all costs if you ever happen to run in to him late at an Indonesian bus station. Well, still we are talking about sums that are less than a return ticket to Helsinki Airport from the city centre so it was not really about the money that got us a bit frustrated when after a few hours of driving on the wrong lane, death-ridiculing overtakes, occasional refilling of the tires and series of emergency brakings later we were told that the van won't go any further and that we would have to pay some extra for the last leg of our journey. And mind you it was already almost 1am at this point without any proper sleep so the tiredness and being screwed up from both ways combined with the low sugar levels really made you reach for your imaginary shotgun. So eventually we had to pay 40k IDR extra for the change of transportation and we finally arrived on an unmarked bus station in Parapat at 3am. We had figured that since we got delayed about three hours from our scheduled arrival time, it wouldn't be much of use to find a guest house for a few hours and we might as well just struggle through the night and take the first ferry to Tuk Tuk. Well, it didn't depart as scheduled either so finally at 8:30 am we were on the last leg of our route. And arriving in the guest house to find out that the room we can have is still being cleaned so we had to wait extra 15 minutes that honestly felt like two hours at that state of tiredness. But after 27 hours of being awake we were finally laying down and after sleeping until early evening, we were slowly starting to get ready to feel the Christmas spirit as it was after all December 24th. Celebrating the occation with a single man's choice of christmas feast (beer and pizza) we finally got back to our room and I believe it was around eight'o'clock when were sleeping again.
So definitely an unforgettable Christmas, away from friends and family. And the normal day rhythm might actually be possible already today... We'll see.
First of all we got pretty cheap flights on two days notice from Phuket to Medan and thusly our journey here started with a wake-up at 6am to make sure we catch the ferry from Koh Lanta to Phuket. There were no problems with that and even the airport transportation worked flawlessly. Not minding the surprising running away of the cashier before giving back our change but apparently she just needed to change the large note to some smaller ones. Letting us know beforehand about her plan would have been a bit more settling and would have probably saved the dumbstruck look in our faces when we were just left there ticketless and without our money. But we got to the airport on time and the flight departed pretty much as planned. And getting the visas on arrival was no problem either as experienced from the last time we had US Dollars with us. But gradually the things started going downhill from that point on. The local minivan/bus to the Amplas bus station went smoothly but apparently there weren't any public buses (26k IDR) going to Parapat anymore so we had to settle for a more expensive option of paying almost four times as much for "luxury VIP AC transportation straight to the ferry terminal" by our dearly beloved Mr. Reagan who you should probably avoid at all costs if you ever happen to run in to him late at an Indonesian bus station. Well, still we are talking about sums that are less than a return ticket to Helsinki Airport from the city centre so it was not really about the money that got us a bit frustrated when after a few hours of driving on the wrong lane, death-ridiculing overtakes, occasional refilling of the tires and series of emergency brakings later we were told that the van won't go any further and that we would have to pay some extra for the last leg of our journey. And mind you it was already almost 1am at this point without any proper sleep so the tiredness and being screwed up from both ways combined with the low sugar levels really made you reach for your imaginary shotgun. So eventually we had to pay 40k IDR extra for the change of transportation and we finally arrived on an unmarked bus station in Parapat at 3am. We had figured that since we got delayed about three hours from our scheduled arrival time, it wouldn't be much of use to find a guest house for a few hours and we might as well just struggle through the night and take the first ferry to Tuk Tuk. Well, it didn't depart as scheduled either so finally at 8:30 am we were on the last leg of our route. And arriving in the guest house to find out that the room we can have is still being cleaned so we had to wait extra 15 minutes that honestly felt like two hours at that state of tiredness. But after 27 hours of being awake we were finally laying down and after sleeping until early evening, we were slowly starting to get ready to feel the Christmas spirit as it was after all December 24th. Celebrating the occation with a single man's choice of christmas feast (beer and pizza) we finally got back to our room and I believe it was around eight'o'clock when were sleeping again.
So definitely an unforgettable Christmas, away from friends and family. And the normal day rhythm might actually be possible already today... We'll see.
keskiviikko 25. marraskuuta 2009
Hectic city
Some days are just more remarkable than others. Generally I've been living a quite steady and ordinary day-to-day life here, but occationally there is something worth mentioning and I believe last monday was such a day. I was doing my first explorations of the Bangkok bus network as I needed to go to Khao San Road and withdraw some money as the yellow ATMs that charge only 15 baht instead of 150 baht extra are a bit scarce. And yes, two and a half euros is not that big of a deal but when it equals four lunches, it magically seems a lot more.
Anyway, the way there was fine and the air-conditioned bus cost 16 baht (cab would have been 70-100 baht). Originally I intended to go and take one of the famous Bangkokian canal boats to the Sukhumvit area, which is a bit more posh neigbourhood of Bangkok and also one of the two "party areas" (RCA Plaza being the another one). To my surprise the canal boats weren't operating after sundown so I had to eventually take a cab, though. But at least I managed to find a pair of shoes that fit me so the extra walk was not totally in vain.
My original plan was to go there and get tickets for tomorrows Benny Benassi gig at the über posh Bed Supperclub. Yes, unordinary of me as I am not exactly the clubbing person but I reasoned that if a world class DJ (whose music I kind of like) in a world class club doesn't float my boat then I can honestly say that the whole clubbing scene is just not meant for me.
After that I went to MBK and managed to find a new shirt and a nice bag that I was needing. And since I had my shopping hat on, I decided to finally get the Snow Leopard upgrade in the same bankruptcy. So I headed back to another shopping centre where the local Apple Store had just closed its doors as hour was quite late already. Luckily on the another side of the road there was an even larger and even more posh shopping centre (Siam Paragon, the one where you can buy Lamborghinis or Porsches in) and they were still open and I managed to get the small white box. When packing my bag though, I noticed that the bracelet - worth 1000 baht - was missing and going through my steps I reasoned that it had to have dropped in front of one particular shop at MBK where I had unpacked my bag a little bit.
So in an orderly panic I rush to the skytrain but decide to walk instead as it would take about the same time anyways but just standing around and waiting didn't feel like a nice option at that point. So I rush in the moist and hot night, in long jeans and a t-shirt, with a box of shoes and a paper bag with my new clothes and accessories in them plus my messenger bag with my laptop in it for weight on my shoulder. I rush towards the MBK Shopping centre, where I have to climb once again to the fifth floor in a maze of escalators and find the corner booth if they would have noticed it and picked it up or something...
When I finally get there, they are closed, all the tables cleaned and the floor is empty on the spot where I was unloading my bag. Damn. I rolled my head around for a few moments and thought what should I do. Go back to the club and explain what happened? Come back tomorrow and see if they would have picked it up and spared it? Just swallow my stupidity and pay for it again? Not really appealing options but there was really nothing more to do at that moment. So I started walking away but was still hopefully eyeing the floor and actually after 5 meters I notice something that very well might be the lost plastic bracelet, I lean in closer and YES! It was exactly what I was looking for, almost exactly where I dropped it, just count in some random kicks and people stepping over it a few times and it was there. I felt so relieved.
Walking happily away from the shopping centre I took the skytrain to the end station and gladly paid for the 60 baht taxi fare straight to my front door. At that point I really didn't care that there might have been a bus connection from Sala Daeng skytrain station to the Phet Kasem road. I just wanted to get home quick.
But I will master the Bangkok public transportation one day! Taxis are just so damn cheap that especially if you are going somewhere together, buses, metros or skytrains just aren't a good option financially. But Skytrain gets from one side of the city to the other in 20 minutes whereas a cab would probably take an hour, depending on the traffic. :)
Anyway, the way there was fine and the air-conditioned bus cost 16 baht (cab would have been 70-100 baht). Originally I intended to go and take one of the famous Bangkokian canal boats to the Sukhumvit area, which is a bit more posh neigbourhood of Bangkok and also one of the two "party areas" (RCA Plaza being the another one). To my surprise the canal boats weren't operating after sundown so I had to eventually take a cab, though. But at least I managed to find a pair of shoes that fit me so the extra walk was not totally in vain.
My original plan was to go there and get tickets for tomorrows Benny Benassi gig at the über posh Bed Supperclub. Yes, unordinary of me as I am not exactly the clubbing person but I reasoned that if a world class DJ (whose music I kind of like) in a world class club doesn't float my boat then I can honestly say that the whole clubbing scene is just not meant for me.
After that I went to MBK and managed to find a new shirt and a nice bag that I was needing. And since I had my shopping hat on, I decided to finally get the Snow Leopard upgrade in the same bankruptcy. So I headed back to another shopping centre where the local Apple Store had just closed its doors as hour was quite late already. Luckily on the another side of the road there was an even larger and even more posh shopping centre (Siam Paragon, the one where you can buy Lamborghinis or Porsches in) and they were still open and I managed to get the small white box. When packing my bag though, I noticed that the bracelet - worth 1000 baht - was missing and going through my steps I reasoned that it had to have dropped in front of one particular shop at MBK where I had unpacked my bag a little bit.
So in an orderly panic I rush to the skytrain but decide to walk instead as it would take about the same time anyways but just standing around and waiting didn't feel like a nice option at that point. So I rush in the moist and hot night, in long jeans and a t-shirt, with a box of shoes and a paper bag with my new clothes and accessories in them plus my messenger bag with my laptop in it for weight on my shoulder. I rush towards the MBK Shopping centre, where I have to climb once again to the fifth floor in a maze of escalators and find the corner booth if they would have noticed it and picked it up or something...
When I finally get there, they are closed, all the tables cleaned and the floor is empty on the spot where I was unloading my bag. Damn. I rolled my head around for a few moments and thought what should I do. Go back to the club and explain what happened? Come back tomorrow and see if they would have picked it up and spared it? Just swallow my stupidity and pay for it again? Not really appealing options but there was really nothing more to do at that moment. So I started walking away but was still hopefully eyeing the floor and actually after 5 meters I notice something that very well might be the lost plastic bracelet, I lean in closer and YES! It was exactly what I was looking for, almost exactly where I dropped it, just count in some random kicks and people stepping over it a few times and it was there. I felt so relieved.
Walking happily away from the shopping centre I took the skytrain to the end station and gladly paid for the 60 baht taxi fare straight to my front door. At that point I really didn't care that there might have been a bus connection from Sala Daeng skytrain station to the Phet Kasem road. I just wanted to get home quick.
But I will master the Bangkok public transportation one day! Taxis are just so damn cheap that especially if you are going somewhere together, buses, metros or skytrains just aren't a good option financially. But Skytrain gets from one side of the city to the other in 20 minutes whereas a cab would probably take an hour, depending on the traffic. :)
sunnuntai 8. marraskuuta 2009
Culture shock
I have mostly been quite well adjusted and prepared for the gap between the west and the east in terms of poverty and level of comfort. But as with my return from India last year, the readjustment from east to west seems to be more shocking. Seeing land mine victims, witnessing the happiness of people who don't have anything and all that suddenly has turned in to a city where you can go to a mall and - should you have the purchasing power - contemplate between the Lamborghini Murchielago or the Audi R8. After all, you are on the "life-style" floor so it is just natural to have those in there for display and for sale.
The more I spend time away from the squeaky-clean environment western capitalism, the less I feel like belonging there. True happiness is somewhere else.
People here are happy for what they have got. People back home are unhappy for what they don't have. Gives you something to think about.
The more I spend time away from the squeaky-clean environment western capitalism, the less I feel like belonging there. True happiness is somewhere else.
People here are happy for what they have got. People back home are unhappy for what they don't have. Gives you something to think about.
torstai 5. marraskuuta 2009
How much it costs?
I have looked at my bank balance done some maths... The two months in South-East Asia have cost me a total of 1900€ and that includes my one-way flight here. That results in about 31 euros per day that I have spent. Granted, I haven't really been on any specific budget and thusly splurged on whatever I feel like without any remorse. And add to that the 6 flights I have flown during the travels and you can understand that it is a major contributor to the overall expenses. Also I have been staying in a bit more upscale accommodation most of the time and not always gone after the absolutely cheapest price. And shopped for some electronics in KL that is also included in there.
Accommodation would be something where it is easy to save some 10-20% and cutting down on the beer and eating more street food instead of sitting in restaurants would probably easily save me 50% on the nutrition budget. And not flying would have saved a lot as well: If I would have spent time instead of money I could have probably saved another 200e or so.
So it would be easy to live for under 20, under 15 euros a day and still be comfortable. Especially in Indonesia - Sumatra to be precise - which has been by far the cheapest area so far.
In Bangkok I am paying 6500 baht (≈135e) a month for my 30 square meter studio, the meals are one fifth of what you get in restaurants and beer comes from 7-Eleven so huge savings are coming from there as well. Actually, the financial student aid from the Finnish state is quite plentiful here and if I live sparingly, I guess I could travel a couple more months after february...
Accommodation would be something where it is easy to save some 10-20% and cutting down on the beer and eating more street food instead of sitting in restaurants would probably easily save me 50% on the nutrition budget. And not flying would have saved a lot as well: If I would have spent time instead of money I could have probably saved another 200e or so.
So it would be easy to live for under 20, under 15 euros a day and still be comfortable. Especially in Indonesia - Sumatra to be precise - which has been by far the cheapest area so far.
In Bangkok I am paying 6500 baht (≈135e) a month for my 30 square meter studio, the meals are one fifth of what you get in restaurants and beer comes from 7-Eleven so huge savings are coming from there as well. Actually, the financial student aid from the Finnish state is quite plentiful here and if I live sparingly, I guess I could travel a couple more months after february...
Well fed
It is remarkably easy to get good and inexpensive street food in my neigbourhood. There is one street packed with vendors a few blocks away from me and conveniently on the way to school. Even my home street has a few more established kitchens and there is also my current favourite - a guy with some real charcoals, grilling different sausages, seafood, meatballs and whatnot a la minute. Then finally he tops it off with a hefty spoonful of insanely good home-made chili sauce and the whole bagful of goodness is served with some diced cucumber. And one sausage costs only 10 baht so it is easy and tempting to have a snack as you go ... pretty much anywhere.
The school restaurants also offer a cornucopia of different authentic thai foods, mostly around 20-30 baht. I am starting to really believe that I won't be purchasing much of cooking equipment during my stay here...
The school restaurants also offer a cornucopia of different authentic thai foods, mostly around 20-30 baht. I am starting to really believe that I won't be purchasing much of cooking equipment during my stay here...
maanantai 2. marraskuuta 2009
5pm is beer time
Okay, did some mandatory shopping for the new apartment at local 7-Eleven: 6l of water, hand soap, detergeant, a cleaning cloth and some toilet paper (130 baht or 2,5 euros total) but shopping for some cleaning beverages wasn't as succesful. For some reason there is a ban of selling alcoholic drinks during the afternoon hours so I guess I have to wait 45 minutes and go back for some Chang because the purchase of cleaning supplies without any beer has already severely damaged my masculinity! Totally unacceptable. What are the neighbours thinking?
***
Well, two hours later the matter has been settled and now there is also something else than water in the fridge. (yeah, no light so can't even use that one). I also ate at my near at hand restaurant. Well, a small gas burner with some plastic seats next to it would be more describing but it serves its purpose. The person running the joint didn't speak any english and as they didn't have pad thai (only thing I can order in Thai so far) I just showed my mouth and sat down. She got the idea and I got something similar from the ingredients she had and the end result was a good mix of fried noodle-type thingies, pork meat and fresh vegetables. Nothing spectacular but for 25 baht I can't complain. And 50 meters isn't that far away so I would pay that amount just for the convenience. :)
The alcohol selling hours are 11.00-14.00 and 17.00-24.00 it turns out. And I thought that the Finnish system was weird...
***
Well, two hours later the matter has been settled and now there is also something else than water in the fridge. (yeah, no light so can't even use that one). I also ate at my near at hand restaurant. Well, a small gas burner with some plastic seats next to it would be more describing but it serves its purpose. The person running the joint didn't speak any english and as they didn't have pad thai (only thing I can order in Thai so far) I just showed my mouth and sat down. She got the idea and I got something similar from the ingredients she had and the end result was a good mix of fried noodle-type thingies, pork meat and fresh vegetables. Nothing spectacular but for 25 baht I can't complain. And 50 meters isn't that far away so I would pay that amount just for the convenience. :)
The alcohol selling hours are 11.00-14.00 and 17.00-24.00 it turns out. And I thought that the Finnish system was weird...
sunnuntai 1. marraskuuta 2009
Finally, scammed by a taxi driver
Well, it took me over two months so I guess I'm all right. And even though he was asking for 500 baht for a ≈100 baht journey, I managed to get out of it with 150. Partially because some of the fault might have been put on me by one specific logic. And mostly because I didn't really want to fight. Want to hear how it got to that? Well, I'll tell you anyway.
I took the cab from the worst possible spot - Khao San Road. Well, not exactly, at least I waved a passing cab instead of climbing onboard one of the touts but still it turned out to be a time-consuming and somewhat costly journey. I told the exact address of Siam University, and stressed the Phet kasem road. Thanon Phetkasem, Okay? Phet Kasem 245. Okay? Phet Ka-sem.... All was clear and he curved on to the traffic. First we headed towards a larger highway than I had anticipated but as I had only done the journey twice - both via different routes - I guessed that it might be just one more way to the rather large and long road. Well, when the meter started to close in to the 100 baht marker and we were still driving away from the city on a road furthering from the Phetkasem (there is no standard spelling in English but that's the way it's most often written) I said "Wrong way, Thanon Phetkasem!" and I'm quite sure that the driver understood what I meant even though his vocabulary was limited to maybe five words in English. He offered to make a U-turn but I just repeated the road name which he at least understood. Then he showed forward and to the left and I just grunted angrily at him. I was thinking he is trying to make an extra long route to get some more bahts from a stupid falang. But after the meter was showing 30 km and two hundred something, it occurred to me that he might not actually know where we are going. And shortly afterwards we pulled over and he asked if I had a map. Well, being more prepared to drive a taxi in Bangkok than he was I dug up my Lonely Planet pull-out map of Bangkok and showed him exactly where we left and the road we were supposed to be on. They wondered it for a while and didn't reach any conclusion. So he drove forward to some elephant park to see if there would be someone who spoke English there. By my standards, there wasn't. But they still managed to reach a consensus that he was way off (whoop-de-do, give them a fucking medal) and we headed back. And after another 20 km of driving and 47 minutes of waiting in traffic or reading map and navigating with locals (with the meter running) we were on the right road at least. And eventually when the km meter hit low sixties and over two hours had passed from the beginning, we finally reached our destination, albeit if I hadn't been here before I might have missed that as well. Then the driver started to point at the meter and I almost shout-laughed at him. I was a bit sympathetic for him because he probably just misunderstood me. Thought that I wanted to go to Thanon Phetkasem SOI 245 instead of Thanon Phetkasem 245. (Sois being the side streets of major roads, but there is no soi 245 probably on any street, at least not on this one - something a cab driver might want to know). And in Thailand you most often mean the particular soi as direct addresses are not really popular around here. So there was a faint basis for his misconception although I had given him the exact address and never mentioned anything about any soi.
Eventually I had to call out one professor of ours to translate our obviously different views about the fare and after some arguing he still wanted to get the full fare on the meter (503 baht). The professor suggested just giving him some amount of money and mentioned 200 baht, but I had already in my stubborn Finnish way decided that I won't pay more than 150 for the uncalled-for sight seeing. So I took out a 100 baht note and said "Normal price" and in an inexplicable gesture of compassion drew out a 50 baht note and said "extra". He refused it so I just bluntly started walking away with the money in my hand as I had already arrived in my destination and couldn't really care any less if he accepted the money or not (and because that generally works because some money is better than no money). In my mind I offered to pay him 50% extra for the rather short trip made long by him. Finally he submitted and took the money after my back was just going farther and farther away from him and he realized that it is all he is going to get from me. So generally I just wasted two hours and some energy plus the equivalent of 1 euro in cash. Not too bad I think and the memory of it is well worth the extra money.
I took the cab from the worst possible spot - Khao San Road. Well, not exactly, at least I waved a passing cab instead of climbing onboard one of the touts but still it turned out to be a time-consuming and somewhat costly journey. I told the exact address of Siam University, and stressed the Phet kasem road. Thanon Phetkasem, Okay? Phet Kasem 245. Okay? Phet Ka-sem.... All was clear and he curved on to the traffic. First we headed towards a larger highway than I had anticipated but as I had only done the journey twice - both via different routes - I guessed that it might be just one more way to the rather large and long road. Well, when the meter started to close in to the 100 baht marker and we were still driving away from the city on a road furthering from the Phetkasem (there is no standard spelling in English but that's the way it's most often written) I said "Wrong way, Thanon Phetkasem!" and I'm quite sure that the driver understood what I meant even though his vocabulary was limited to maybe five words in English. He offered to make a U-turn but I just repeated the road name which he at least understood. Then he showed forward and to the left and I just grunted angrily at him. I was thinking he is trying to make an extra long route to get some more bahts from a stupid falang. But after the meter was showing 30 km and two hundred something, it occurred to me that he might not actually know where we are going. And shortly afterwards we pulled over and he asked if I had a map. Well, being more prepared to drive a taxi in Bangkok than he was I dug up my Lonely Planet pull-out map of Bangkok and showed him exactly where we left and the road we were supposed to be on. They wondered it for a while and didn't reach any conclusion. So he drove forward to some elephant park to see if there would be someone who spoke English there. By my standards, there wasn't. But they still managed to reach a consensus that he was way off (whoop-de-do, give them a fucking medal) and we headed back. And after another 20 km of driving and 47 minutes of waiting in traffic or reading map and navigating with locals (with the meter running) we were on the right road at least. And eventually when the km meter hit low sixties and over two hours had passed from the beginning, we finally reached our destination, albeit if I hadn't been here before I might have missed that as well. Then the driver started to point at the meter and I almost shout-laughed at him. I was a bit sympathetic for him because he probably just misunderstood me. Thought that I wanted to go to Thanon Phetkasem SOI 245 instead of Thanon Phetkasem 245. (Sois being the side streets of major roads, but there is no soi 245 probably on any street, at least not on this one - something a cab driver might want to know). And in Thailand you most often mean the particular soi as direct addresses are not really popular around here. So there was a faint basis for his misconception although I had given him the exact address and never mentioned anything about any soi.
Eventually I had to call out one professor of ours to translate our obviously different views about the fare and after some arguing he still wanted to get the full fare on the meter (503 baht). The professor suggested just giving him some amount of money and mentioned 200 baht, but I had already in my stubborn Finnish way decided that I won't pay more than 150 for the uncalled-for sight seeing. So I took out a 100 baht note and said "Normal price" and in an inexplicable gesture of compassion drew out a 50 baht note and said "extra". He refused it so I just bluntly started walking away with the money in my hand as I had already arrived in my destination and couldn't really care any less if he accepted the money or not (and because that generally works because some money is better than no money). In my mind I offered to pay him 50% extra for the rather short trip made long by him. Finally he submitted and took the money after my back was just going farther and farther away from him and he realized that it is all he is going to get from me. So generally I just wasted two hours and some energy plus the equivalent of 1 euro in cash. Not too bad I think and the memory of it is well worth the extra money.
lauantai 31. lokakuuta 2009
Update
Okay, first of all, the country has changed and it didn't even take as long as I anticipated. We took the flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City after spending a few days in Hoi An. Vietnam was rainy and dark and people were pushy so at that state of tiredness we just wanted to get out of the country as quickly as possible. Luckily in this part of the world it is still possible just to fish for some last-minute deals and we got an AirAsia flight to Bangkok around five o'clock. We were joking around about going to Phuket the same evening but as the flight went on the idea started to feel more and more appealing. So rushing through the Bangkok Airport I managed to score two tickets to Phuket on the same evening and immediately after making sure that we had checked in on time I gave a call to Jasu in Pore (the restaurant with best service, food and drinks this side of the equator) and he promised to fix us a room in a nearby hotel. When has your bartender done the same for you?
We arrived in Phuket around ten and took a cab to his restaurant. There we were greeted with our room keys, cold Chang and he was also kind enough to prepare us some food so we were finally more than ready for bed around midnight.
The following day we rented some scooters, drove around different beaches (If in Phuket, check out Nai Harn beach - it's awesome) and toured different sights. Day after that was dedicated to culinary adventures and then we moved on to Koh Phi Phi. One night there was enough and the original idea was to carry on to Koh Lanta towards one particularily nice beach but as the last ferry had gone it was of no use but to stay. After finally arriving it was just pure beach life, not much more to tell. Sun, swimming, food, swimming, sun, swimming, food, beer, swimming, sun, food, beer, beer, beer...
Then we headed towards the notorious Khao Lak but I guess that is worth its own post. Currently in Phuket town, waiting for a bus to Bangkok. So the traveling part is slowly coming to an end for now but there will be Cambodia at least on the list some day before March. And should I see something worth mentioning, I might just give it a post.
We arrived in Phuket around ten and took a cab to his restaurant. There we were greeted with our room keys, cold Chang and he was also kind enough to prepare us some food so we were finally more than ready for bed around midnight.
The following day we rented some scooters, drove around different beaches (If in Phuket, check out Nai Harn beach - it's awesome) and toured different sights. Day after that was dedicated to culinary adventures and then we moved on to Koh Phi Phi. One night there was enough and the original idea was to carry on to Koh Lanta towards one particularily nice beach but as the last ferry had gone it was of no use but to stay. After finally arriving it was just pure beach life, not much more to tell. Sun, swimming, food, swimming, sun, swimming, food, beer, swimming, sun, food, beer, beer, beer...
Then we headed towards the notorious Khao Lak but I guess that is worth its own post. Currently in Phuket town, waiting for a bus to Bangkok. So the traveling part is slowly coming to an end for now but there will be Cambodia at least on the list some day before March. And should I see something worth mentioning, I might just give it a post.
torstai 22. lokakuuta 2009
Laos and Vietnam
First of all, I wrote a long text but magically the crappy computers in cooperation with the lousy internet connection made blogger dig up some 30 minute old draft of the ready text and I was so pissed off that I really wasn't in the mood of writing it all over again... But here is what is left of it:
Okay, I've been keeping busy. Since last post from Bangkok I have visited Laos and am currently in Vietnam.
I think I am slowly starting to master the art of solitary bus traveling on a crowded bus. Once again deprived of food and sugar ("I'm sure we'll have some time to eat before the bus leaves...") I was feeling a bit grumpy. Well, sitting fairly widely in my seat and listening to kitten-slaughtering metal on a deafening volume did the trick and the guy who sat next to me instead of the other free seat in the back of the bus decided that the rear seat was a better option after all. Of course if the bus had been totally full I would have been nicer but as the other person ahd a choice, I feel that I just guided him in to the right direction. And he wasn't a passenger but an employee of the bus so it's not like he paid anything... :)
But eventually the night bus arrived in Vientiane which was like a small town standing still after the hussle of Bangkok. You wouldn't believe that it is a capital city, so peaceful it was there. But the road was calling and after one night in the countrys administrative central the road took me to Vang Vieng, the local traveller ghetto. One peculiar thing was the amount of bars that were constantly showing episodes of Friends in the area. I wouldn't say that there was one bar for each season but you definitely had some choice when it came to choosing how old Jennifer Aniston you wanted to stare at. Mainly I was just tubing in there for a day before moving on to the 30 hour trip to Vietnam. So most of Laos I saw from a bus window and the main thing that I saw was the colour green. Really beautiful and green country.
The trip from Vientiane to Hanoi was something to remember. We had to leave Vang Vieng at around 1pm, change to a bigger bus in Vientiane after 4 hours and then sit in the bus for about 24 hours with the extra 3 hours that we spent at the border zone, waiting for the departure stamp and filling out forms. As Finland is a country that could easily be described as "mostly harmless" we got our 14 day visas straight from the border and had to pay 1 dollar for it. Fairly nice compared to almost everyone else who had to pay 40-50 US dollars for theirs.
On other news: my camera finally gave in and broke down. Some mechanical failure as the lens won't come out or come in properly. Too bad since I really liked the versatility of the camera and the features that are nowadays almost exclusive to SLRs. Top of the line a few years ago and big by todays standards, but still. I would really like to take pictures from such places as Angkor Wat for example.
And here I had a long description of Hanoi, but basically we just walked around the city, visited the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh and the Hanoi Hilton. Go see it for yourself, it is bound to be better than my descriptions of it. And that won't be lost somewhere in the internet.
Okay, I've been keeping busy. Since last post from Bangkok I have visited Laos and am currently in Vietnam.
I think I am slowly starting to master the art of solitary bus traveling on a crowded bus. Once again deprived of food and sugar ("I'm sure we'll have some time to eat before the bus leaves...") I was feeling a bit grumpy. Well, sitting fairly widely in my seat and listening to kitten-slaughtering metal on a deafening volume did the trick and the guy who sat next to me instead of the other free seat in the back of the bus decided that the rear seat was a better option after all. Of course if the bus had been totally full I would have been nicer but as the other person ahd a choice, I feel that I just guided him in to the right direction. And he wasn't a passenger but an employee of the bus so it's not like he paid anything... :)
But eventually the night bus arrived in Vientiane which was like a small town standing still after the hussle of Bangkok. You wouldn't believe that it is a capital city, so peaceful it was there. But the road was calling and after one night in the countrys administrative central the road took me to Vang Vieng, the local traveller ghetto. One peculiar thing was the amount of bars that were constantly showing episodes of Friends in the area. I wouldn't say that there was one bar for each season but you definitely had some choice when it came to choosing how old Jennifer Aniston you wanted to stare at. Mainly I was just tubing in there for a day before moving on to the 30 hour trip to Vietnam. So most of Laos I saw from a bus window and the main thing that I saw was the colour green. Really beautiful and green country.
The trip from Vientiane to Hanoi was something to remember. We had to leave Vang Vieng at around 1pm, change to a bigger bus in Vientiane after 4 hours and then sit in the bus for about 24 hours with the extra 3 hours that we spent at the border zone, waiting for the departure stamp and filling out forms. As Finland is a country that could easily be described as "mostly harmless" we got our 14 day visas straight from the border and had to pay 1 dollar for it. Fairly nice compared to almost everyone else who had to pay 40-50 US dollars for theirs.
On other news: my camera finally gave in and broke down. Some mechanical failure as the lens won't come out or come in properly. Too bad since I really liked the versatility of the camera and the features that are nowadays almost exclusive to SLRs. Top of the line a few years ago and big by todays standards, but still. I would really like to take pictures from such places as Angkor Wat for example.
And here I had a long description of Hanoi, but basically we just walked around the city, visited the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh and the Hanoi Hilton. Go see it for yourself, it is bound to be better than my descriptions of it. And that won't be lost somewhere in the internet.
Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos information
The national sport of backpackers in Laos is tubing (and boozing) down the river. There is only one operator and they charge a fixed price of 55000 kips (or 5 euros) and you also have to pay 60000 kips for a deposit of the tube. Then the price includes a one-way tuk tuk ride to the starting point where a few bars are more than happy to welcome you to the riverside with a free shot of local whiskey. (Doesn't taste anything like whiskey but is really good and costs 8000 (eight thousand) kips per 0,7l in a store so the price-quality ratio is definitely there).
There are a lot of bars in the beginning and I suggest you do most of your boozing there as when you go downstream the bars get a lot quieter and scarce. The last 30 minutes of floating there are practically no bars and it gets a bit chilly after the sun sets behind mountains (3pm-4pm).
There are a lot of things to do for small-time adrenaline junkies like zip lines and swings where you jump off from around 15 meters and just hold on to a rail. And jump down to the river when you feel like it. Most activities are free when you first buy a beer or some food from the bar.
There are a ton of backpackers there and peace and quiet is something that might be harder to find nowadays. The start is all loud dance music and if you want to party, it is definitely the place to go during the daytime in Vang Vieng. Further downstream you can just sit back, relax and look at the amazing mountainous scenery. The tubing is really far from rafting as the speed averages on about 2-4 km per hour. And as the route is about 4km long, it takes 1 to 2 hours depending on the current.
The exit isn't really clearly marked but it is fairly recogniseable. There are some local kids annoyingly willing to help you and beg for money for that so it is hard to miss. But generally when there seems to be two ways to go and some bamboo huts in the middle, that is the place to get up and return the tube. It is a few minutes walk back to the official tube rental.
There are a lot of bars in the beginning and I suggest you do most of your boozing there as when you go downstream the bars get a lot quieter and scarce. The last 30 minutes of floating there are practically no bars and it gets a bit chilly after the sun sets behind mountains (3pm-4pm).
There are a lot of things to do for small-time adrenaline junkies like zip lines and swings where you jump off from around 15 meters and just hold on to a rail. And jump down to the river when you feel like it. Most activities are free when you first buy a beer or some food from the bar.
There are a ton of backpackers there and peace and quiet is something that might be harder to find nowadays. The start is all loud dance music and if you want to party, it is definitely the place to go during the daytime in Vang Vieng. Further downstream you can just sit back, relax and look at the amazing mountainous scenery. The tubing is really far from rafting as the speed averages on about 2-4 km per hour. And as the route is about 4km long, it takes 1 to 2 hours depending on the current.
The exit isn't really clearly marked but it is fairly recogniseable. There are some local kids annoyingly willing to help you and beg for money for that so it is hard to miss. But generally when there seems to be two ways to go and some bamboo huts in the middle, that is the place to get up and return the tube. It is a few minutes walk back to the official tube rental.
torstai 15. lokakuuta 2009
Back in BKK
The night bus from Phuket to Bangkok was surprisingly nice, they even offered you a bottle of water, mysterious readily buttered and packed slice of toast and a blanket for free! The seats were superb and I guess the only negative thing about the trip was the Thai "easy listening" radio the driver was blasting through the first three hours of the journey. After that they stopped for 15 minutes and I was finally able to get some sleep. That is until we continued the journey and I woke up to the sound of massive gunfire and car chases. I guess the midnight movie was some local action flick and for some reason it was apparently absolutely necessary to turn the volume up a notch that the effects can be actually felt on the edge of your seat... Hovering somewhere between sleep and the Thai car chase reality the movie finally ended and around 2am the silence finally fell over the bus. So about 4 hours of sound sleep before arriving in some bus terminal somewhere around Bangkok that three locals weren't able to put on a map. Had some coffee and ended up chatting about religion, politics, nasal inhalers and import business with a local entrepreneur for two hours. Afterwards a 10km cab ride to my future University and after taking care of some business and taking a look at my possible future residence I headed back to the infamous Khao San road from where I had to get some passport photos, accommodation and bus tickets to Vientiane. And meet my mother the following morning. :)
We made a quick tour around Bangkok, cruised on the river Chao Phya, strolled around in Chinatown and killed time getting some massages, pedicures and facials. (foot massage, half an hour: 120 baht, facial 200 baht). And blogging of course. If you speak fluent Finnish and would like to follow her journey as well, here is a link to her blog.
We made a quick tour around Bangkok, cruised on the river Chao Phya, strolled around in Chinatown and killed time getting some massages, pedicures and facials. (foot massage, half an hour: 120 baht, facial 200 baht). And blogging of course. If you speak fluent Finnish and would like to follow her journey as well, here is a link to her blog.
sunnuntai 11. lokakuuta 2009
Pictures from KL
As I am stranded in Phuket for four more hours and the internet costs only 15 baht an hour, I might as well post some unreleased photos from my camera. :)
Culture shock
I was prepared to sleep in shady bungalows and travel in crappy buses without doors with my knees in my chin. I was prepared to eat indistinguishable meat on a skewer and do my natural needs in worm-infested dunny with only a hole in the ground but in Phuket there was something I wasn't really prepared for. And that is a bar full of Finns.
I remember coming back from India and this reverse culture shock is quite interesting. For me it hit on a bus from Helsinki-Vantaa to my home town as it was a brand new Mercedes bus with floors cleaner than some plates I had eaten from in the previous months. Not to mention the utter silence and lack of movement of the high-tech transport. It was something similar, hearing a lot of finnish spoken around me (there is quite a strong Finnish community in Phuket, it seems) and drinking familiar drinks made by a trusted bartender for eight years and running.
Okay, the food at Pore (in Ao Chalong - or Chalong bay) was incredibly delicious. I have been mostly eating local foods in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand but the appeal of bacon stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes and one meter ribs was too hard to resist. I wound up sleeping in a nice hotel 200m from the bar and for two days it was just like any weekend in Finland. And actually the hotel was supposed to be quite cheap and crappy, but for me a tiled floor and a real bed with provided bed linen and towels was a luxury. And for 250 baht per night it was quite cheap for Phuket.
There was also a sauna right next to the bar and after countless weeks of cold showers and dusty roads the warmth really hit the spot. And as you could just keep your tab open when going in, it reminded me even more about Sling In and Santa Fe in Helsinki. :)
Jasu doing his magic in Pore
I know that even going to a place like Phuket might strike some travelers as a horrific thing to do but refusing the fact that some times I like to eat good western food, hang out with nice people from my own country and drink excessive amounts of alcohol would be lying to myself. Of course that is not why I came here but sometimes it is nice to take a little break from experiencing new stuff and places and just wind down the way that is most familiar to you.
The famous 1 meter (3,28 feet) ribs
And as you can get one meter ribs with all the side orders for less than you can get a Pedros Blackened Steak in Santa Fe, Helsinki it just seems logical to indulge in a cheaper country where the food is better and drinks are a lot cheaper. Thanks again, Jasu & co. :)
Now I am taking a night bus to Bangkok from where I will be continuing towards Cambodia and Vietnam.
I remember coming back from India and this reverse culture shock is quite interesting. For me it hit on a bus from Helsinki-Vantaa to my home town as it was a brand new Mercedes bus with floors cleaner than some plates I had eaten from in the previous months. Not to mention the utter silence and lack of movement of the high-tech transport. It was something similar, hearing a lot of finnish spoken around me (there is quite a strong Finnish community in Phuket, it seems) and drinking familiar drinks made by a trusted bartender for eight years and running.
Okay, the food at Pore (in Ao Chalong - or Chalong bay) was incredibly delicious. I have been mostly eating local foods in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand but the appeal of bacon stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes and one meter ribs was too hard to resist. I wound up sleeping in a nice hotel 200m from the bar and for two days it was just like any weekend in Finland. And actually the hotel was supposed to be quite cheap and crappy, but for me a tiled floor and a real bed with provided bed linen and towels was a luxury. And for 250 baht per night it was quite cheap for Phuket.
There was also a sauna right next to the bar and after countless weeks of cold showers and dusty roads the warmth really hit the spot. And as you could just keep your tab open when going in, it reminded me even more about Sling In and Santa Fe in Helsinki. :)
I know that even going to a place like Phuket might strike some travelers as a horrific thing to do but refusing the fact that some times I like to eat good western food, hang out with nice people from my own country and drink excessive amounts of alcohol would be lying to myself. Of course that is not why I came here but sometimes it is nice to take a little break from experiencing new stuff and places and just wind down the way that is most familiar to you.
And as you can get one meter ribs with all the side orders for less than you can get a Pedros Blackened Steak in Santa Fe, Helsinki it just seems logical to indulge in a cheaper country where the food is better and drinks are a lot cheaper. Thanks again, Jasu & co. :)
Now I am taking a night bus to Bangkok from where I will be continuing towards Cambodia and Vietnam.
Ko Lanta
The island is in deed almost paradise-like but as the road from the north is being built, more resorts are stretching out towards the southern beaches. You can still find really peaceful and quiet beaches with clean sand and even clearer waters. But as I talked with one local, there has been a huge change in the past ten years. Builders have been poaching the monkeys and previously common breeds such as Night monkeys are pretty much extinct nowadays. Also the bigger resorts have been just pumping their waste water straight in to the ocean, making the snow-white beach sands a pale shade of gray. They are apparently waking up to the situation but it seems that a lot of the damage has already been done, but still towards south you can find some peace and solitude under coconut trees. I'd still say that Palolem beach in Goa is probably the best I've been to, with Porto Katsiki in Lefkada, Greece coming as a close second. But generally the beaches here are easily compareable to the finest ones I've experienced. And I guess in Ko Phi Phi there would be even nicer ones (like the one they used in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "The Beach") but somehow the ubiquitous 4-5 star resorts were somewhat of a turnoff and finding cheap accommodation there might be hard. 
One nice thing about Ko Lanta is that the whole west coast is pretty much one stretch of a road and thusly it is very easy to get along in there. Walking is nice but waving downwards to the passing scooters or cars is really common and I was "stopped" by hitch-hikers a couple of times and when I didn't have a scooter, I was traveling on the back of a pick-up truck or on the back seat of someones scooter. And had the best and most interesting conversations with the locals during those trips as well. So that is definitely a recommended way of moving around and because it is so common, it is not hard to get yourself a ride. You are not expected to pay anything and generally the company is reward enough for all parties involved. Superb way to travel and meet the locals. And because there generally is just one road, you just pick the right side of the street and wave down with your hand. Generally the thumb up is an unknown symbol for them at least in the hitch-hiking context, so just looking at them and with your palm down just wiggle a little and you are most likely to get a ride.
The streets get quite quiet in the evening so don't count on a ride though. But whenever you have a longer distance to walk and you are not necessarily in the mood for it, try hitch-hiking. Works beautifully in Ko Lanta at least. :)
lauantai 3. lokakuuta 2009
Don't fall asleep in the sun and other things learned
Okay, sorry for the delay in writing. First of all: I'm fine, didn't die in earthquakes or tsunamis. Was in KL during the earthquake but it really didn't cause anything in the capital. Thankfully got out from Sumatra before it hit as there are over one thousand dead and some villages are still isolated it seems. The only things I have noticed about typhoon Ketsana are the massive rains and heavy winds that are hitting Ko Lanta where I am currently. (Oh, and 99% of the islands Internet connections are down so there is also one factor of me not being able to update).
So the last post was from KL... Here's a quick recap of the things happened since:
I met a friend of mine from Finland in KL and we spent a few days in the city before traveling to Langkawi island and spent a couple of days there. We took the night bus towards Langkawi and the final leg was done with a ferry. The bus itself was quite all-right but 7 hours of sitting and arrival in the early hours of the morning didn't make for a good nights sleep. Quick breakfast and on to the ferry, cab to the Langkawi resort area and checking in to a nice hotel. Two persons paying results in air-conditioning and clean bedsheets for the same price as you'd normally pay alone for a crappy bungalow. (50 ringgit or 10 euros for the room, split in two - haggled down from 70).
The beach was quite near and that seemed like a nice place to spend a part of the day in. I was resting in the shadow at first and actually even said that I'm just gonna stay there because I know I would just fall asleep in the sun. Well, failing to take in to consideration the changing position of the sun I was happily dozing and the result was nicely burnt legs and stomach. Now, about a week later, it is starting to be quite normal again but with the amounts of after sun lotion and aloe vera used it would be a small wonder if it didn't heal.
Langkawi was generally a really touristic resort and the only good thing was the surrounding nature that we explored with a scooter. Mainly the small jungle trek around the waterfalls is noteworthy. And actually the waterfalls are really nice, hopefully I will get to post some photos later on.
After couple of days in Langkawi we headed towards Thailand. Ferry to Satun and a bus to Krabi. In the ferry my seat was a bit broken so not a lot of rest there either and in the bus I was quite pissed off because also there my seat was messed up with the reclining seat only reclining and not holding any position. Low blood sugar and everything led me to blast some Children of Bodom on officially hazardous sound pressure levels with my headphones. It did two things: got some of the vitutus out and kept the seat next to me free. I guess my Sennheisers leak out a little bit more audio on max volume than I had realized... But when arriving to the Krabi bus station I was already back to my normal self and ready to head towards the sunny islands of the Andaman sea. She opted for the city life so we parted ways, me heading first to the Krabi beach resorts and taking a ferry on the next day to Ko Phi Phi and finally to Ko Lanta. I spent the night in a shabby and murky bungalow that - according to the owners - was also a rest place for the Madventures crew on their filming of the first season. And surely enough there was Laughing Gecko mentioned in the thank you section of their book. So I guess I am doing at least something right with this travelling stuff. ;)
The bungalow was dim and moist, the mattress felt as if soiled and the mosquito net was hole-ridden. Thankfully it didn't rain because I really wasn't in the mood of finding out whether the roof was waterproof or not. Slept through the night still and the pick-up service I had arranged the night before was almost on time and I made it safely to the ferry. And without more than merely setting a foot on Ko Phi Phi I was already on the ferry to Ko Lanta. Befriended by a nice middle-aged woman I chose the accommodation tempted by the easiness of free transport to the premises. The bungalow was nice and the price okay (150 baht - or about 3 euros - down from 200). The neighbouring couple said that they had been there for three days and saw only a few drops of rain so the start was in deed promising. Took a few kilometers walk to the nearest city and got some money from the ATM. Early night in and refreshed in to a new day.
Except that two days ago the remains of the typhoon Ketsana hit the islands and it was just pouring rain and heavy winds for two days straight. We managed to take a little hike towards the nearby waterfalls (seeing a pattern here?) but it started to become dark and as the jungle was quite heavy it was definitely nice to get out before the darkness fell. Back in the bungalow I noticed two leeches sucking my right leg after wading through the knee-deep river. Just thinking about the leeches being used for medicinal purposes I tried to convince myself that it was actually nice but after ripping the little suckers out I felt more relieved about not having parasites than the healing features of the creatures. Apparently they do something to prevent your blood from congealing as the wounds just kept on bleeding for really long. But they should be relatively harmless and the wound just looks a little bit bruised. So to justify the headline: don't wade in unknown waters.
Yesterday I was mainly just keeping the rain and playing with the two and a half year old daughter of the place owner. Funny how kids are so open and friendly without any financial reason. With adults here you can never be sure...
Today is a nice, sunny day (so far) and apparently the connections to outside world are reopening. Nice, because I have already read all of my travel readings and the book swapping corner in the guest house is mainly filled with German books. I hired a scooter and found out that the island is in deed a small one and the smaller roads are rendered to muddy pathways by the heavy rains. So it's just cruising the main roads and eating in a small roadside stalls. And I'm enjoying every moment of it.
sunnuntai 27. syyskuuta 2009
Petronas Towers Sky Bridge
Every day they are handing out 800 or so tickets for the sky bridge tour at the probably most known landmark of Kuala Lumpur. This translates to huge queues and fierce combat for the free tour tickets early in the morning. I was there at 8:20 as the ticket counter opens at 8:30. As you can see, there were quite a lot of people already there...
Thankfully the queuing went fairly quickly as there was an older Australian mate there with whom I talked about barbies and leather thongs amongst other things. One and a half hours later I had a ticket for the 11:30 tour. Off to the Suria KLCC shopping center which is located at the bottom of the towers. You can find pretty much every luxury brand in existence having their shop there. Armani exchange, Brioni, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Ermenegildo Zegna, Fendi, Gucci, Hermes, Issey Miyake, Jimmy Choo, Karen Millen, Louis Vuitton, Moschino... I bet you could fill out the whole list with shops in there but that would be a waste of valuable blog space.
Anyway, the time was really easy to spend in the air-conditioned shopping environment and before long I was standing in the elevator to the 41st floor. There was also a 3D presentation about Petronas as a company and the building of the twin towers. But the true tour in my opinion began when we stepped out of the elevator:
The views were pretty amazing and even though you were only allowed at the sky bridge for a bit over 5 minutes it was still worth it. Enough time to take the compulsory posing pictures and marvel at the surrounding rooftops. I just wonder how spectacular the view is from the top floor offices...
Happy posing tourist
ps. scroll down for some additional pictures. I added some to the previous posts.
lauantai 26. syyskuuta 2009
Juho the computer wizard
Electronics is quite cheap in KL, so I bought myself a 16GB thumb drive from a mall dedicated only to electronics (how heavenly is that?). a 16GB model basically costs a bit under 100 ringgits or 20 euros, but I opted for the titanium reinforced Sandisk one for a bit more. Anyway, after coming back to the hostel and plugging the device in ... nothing happened.
Is it a faulty drive? The light comes on normally, so it should be fine. Does the OS support it? Well, it's Vista, but still it should be no problem. Just click on add new hardware! Oh, no new devices found. Maybe another USB port, if the hardware is somehow faulty? No reaction. Could the U3 stuff be messing with it? Heureka! You might need admin priviledges to install new software as the U3 tries to launch for the first time! Maybe I should ask the guy in reception about it.
Or maybe I should just stop shoving it to the computer to my left and put it in the correct machine. Yeah, works perfectly.
perjantai 25. syyskuuta 2009
Impressions on Indonesia vol. 2
Indonesia is quite a liberal country, especially when it comes to different restrictions and regulations. Smoking seems to be allowed everywhere and buses seem to be particularly popular places for smoking. One of the minibuses was seriously driven by a 12-year-old. If there is not enough room inside the bus, you can always climb up to the luggage rack and travel with a lot of legroom.
Indonesians, especially in Lake Toba, are also quite laid back about plants and fungi naturally growing in the mountains and field sides and marijuana and magic mushrooms are being offered constantly despite their illegal status.
The only people likely to screw you around are the rickshaw drivers. The locals are friendly and helpful and some of them even speak nearly perfect English.
I trekked a volcano and spend a night in Berastagi on my way to Medan. Pictures are to follow. Berastagi was a really nice place with lots of fresh fruits, flowers and vegetables spread around the massive marketplaces. Guess the volcanic soil makes for a good growing ground.
Now I am back in KL and after sleeping almost around the clock (the volcano trek started at 3am) I am finally ready to hit the streets. So stay tuned for some more pictures and stories. :)
maanantai 21. syyskuuta 2009
Impressions on Indonesia
Well, the title might be a bit misleading as I've actually done only one island within an island (Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra). But generally the people in Medan were as helpful and friendly as the locals here. Samosir island is in the heartlands of Batak people and the lake is about 900 meters from sea level. It seems that everyone here is a musician and no matter where you are sitting in the evening, at some point someone always takes out the guitar and starts singing and playing. Drums and djembes are usually joining in quite quickly and suddenly there is a whole band playing both Batak and English songs.
The scenery is mountainious (is that a word?) and green and the fresh water in the lake makes for an excellent swimming place. Days are mostly sunny but short rains are quite common as it is the rainy season. Still warm and no need for long sleeves, so I'm not complaining. The day temperature is around 25 degrees centigrade, so slight downfall of water is not a problem. Nights are around 20. Pretty much perfect weather. Too bad the clouds are blocking the starry sky, but it is extremely enjoyable. I know I will miss this place and the laid-back atmosphere.
The food is also great with Rendang, the local version of curry, being served almost everywhere. I prefer the indian ones but they make for a good food. And for 1,5 euros per portion there is not a lot to complain about. One local treat is Gado-gado, a local salad with peanut dressing. The peanut dressing is spiced sometimes with coriander and ginger, but lime juice and chilli are most common spices. Sugar is also added for a bit of sweetness. It has a great nutty flavour and definitely will be missed. Western food is also widely available but the greatest flavours are generally found in shady roadside stalls you wouldn't describe as a restaurant in any western nation.
I was supposed to decorate the post with luscious food photos but left my USB cable for the camera back in the guesthouse. Oh well, I'll post them later on. update: added picturesI will be flying to KL on the 25th. From there, probably back to Thailand and around mid-October towards Cambodia. Looks like I have to pack my bag once again.
And I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but all my belongings weight in at 15 kg. Seems pretty light for half years supplies, but so far I haven't really missed anything (a roll of duct tape - or jesus tape as we call it in Finland - does wonders).
sunnuntai 20. syyskuuta 2009
Tragedy
My hammock is destroyed! Some french guy was sitting in there with her girlfriend and it was torn apart. The guy paid up and actually I made a nice profit with it as well, but I would rather still have the hammock intact.
In 5 days I will be flying back to KL. Should meet a friend in there and the original plan is to head towards Thailand and spend a week or two together.
In 5 days I will be flying back to KL. Should meet a friend in there and the original plan is to head towards Thailand and spend a week or two together.
keskiviikko 16. syyskuuta 2009
Thursday night roast
We are still rallying for some people to join our suckling pig feast tonight. There was some misunderstanding apparently and instead of the piglet that would have fed five persons, we got a bigger one good for 10-15 people. So we are just inviting strangers to come and share the pig (and the costs) with us. So far one certain and two maybes, but the search continues. :)
tiistai 15. syyskuuta 2009
Fruit of the day #2
And here it is ladies and gentlemen
The impervious Jambu
The impervious JambuThe fruit actually goes by many names and from wikipedia you can find the following name list: wax apple, love apple, java apple, Chomphu, Bellfruit, water apple, mountain apple, jambu air ("water guava" in Malay), wax jambu, Rose apple, bell fruit, makopa, tambis, and chambekka in Malayalam, Jamrul (in Bengali), and jumbu (Sri Lanka). The local term is just jambu.
The fruit is an interesting mix of radish and something sweet. Texture is a bit firmer than with ordinary apple and all in all it wasn't that impressive. The search for the perfect fruit continues...
The fruit is an interesting mix of radish and something sweet. Texture is a bit firmer than with ordinary apple and all in all it wasn't that impressive. The search for the perfect fruit continues...
sunnuntai 13. syyskuuta 2009
Bugger
The other night I came across the following little beast:
Picture somehow doesn't do justice to the sheer size of the thing. :) For the record: it was a friendly encounter and no animals were harmed taking the picture.
Picture somehow doesn't do justice to the sheer size of the thing. :) For the record: it was a friendly encounter and no animals were harmed taking the picture.
Fruit of the day
The skin is almost like a snakeskin. After peeling it, there is three segments, a little bit like in a garlic. The aroma isn't very strong and the taste is quite mild. Remarkably acidic and resembles an apple. Especially the texture. Something worth mentioning was the really strong tannic mouthfeel while eating the fruit. A nice fruit, a bit too acidic to my taste but the ones in Bali are apparently sweeter and more costly. Have to check it out if I come across some.
Street foodI have also had some other rather nice taste experiences, most of which coming from small food stalls. Above is pictured a dish that I would call potatoes, grilled meat and sauce on a banana leaf. Really good and cheap. The meat tasted like chicken but the consistency was a bit hard and not as flaky. Ignorance is bliss I guess. At least it was delicious and that's what matters. :)
perjantai 11. syyskuuta 2009
Stranded
When traveling in a Muslim area, one should keep in mind that the Ramadan is happening around September... Not getting food in the daytime is a minor complaint but when everyone flocks to the airplanes after the Ramadan (Sept. 19th this year) the ticket prices tend to soar a bit...
Guess I might have to look at this a bit longer:
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Guess I might have to look at this a bit longer:
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keskiviikko 9. syyskuuta 2009
Quiet and peaceful
My hammock by the lake
My 3,5 euro roomDays pass lying in the hammock, reading, eating and occationally canooeing on the lake or just riding around the island with a scooter. Excellent place to relax and chill out as there really isn't that much to do around here. Maybe a few more days...
The weather is nice, not too hot during the day and not too cold in the evenings. Just perfect.
tiistai 8. syyskuuta 2009
Lake Toba
My arrival in Indonesia was a bit more exciting than usual because it turned out that you can't pay the visa on arrival with a credit card in Medan. (The airport is called Polonia airport for some reson, btw). Not possessing US dollars either I had to resort for an unsupported currency (euro) and paid 20 euros for the 25$ visa. Still okay I think.
There was a flood of hellomisters at the airport and it was really hard to get out of there without a taxi or a tuk tuk. But made it still and walked straight after the ATM to the nearest street vendor, bought some of their "something in a dough, served with fresh green chilies". Also got a very vague instructions about taking a bus to the city. Well, after finding the bus stop and boarding one - errm, bus? - i was greeted with three teenaged indonesian girls who all wanted to take a picture with me. They also were kind enough to tell me how to get a minibus, or a questionably modified Toyota Hiace that would be more describing, to the city. Actually everything went really quickly and I was almost tossed to a bus to Parapat because I mentioned the Danau Toba trip. Paid 22000 rupiahs for the 5 hour ride. Mind you that 14500 rupiahs equal to 1 euro, so it was basically nothing. I was quite in luck because the bus made it in front of the Tuk Tuk Ferry about 4 minutes before the last departure.
Wound up in a way more posh accommodation than I had planned, with hot water, bathtub, balcony and a double bed. Three and a half euros per night, so no complaints. And marijuana and magic mushrooms seem to be very common around here as two persons have already tried to sell me some. "Remember, I've got the good stuff! So just ask me..." And this coming from a waiter in the guesthouse restaurant. Reminds me of Goa a couple of years back.
The nature is awesome and the sunsets are stunning. Nothing much to do around here but chill out and relax. Might rent a scooter some day now and take a little ride around. There is supposed to be some hot springs about 50km from here. But if the road is anything like the trans-Sumatran highway, I don't want to risk my life in that traffic. It is quite chaotic and in the buses and restaurants people are just smoking all the time. Pretty different from Thailand or Malaysia, where smoking is much more controlled.
Easy and carefree staying, but apparently there are a lot of finns here so quite a lot of "mitta kuulu? Mitas mies? Mitas tasa!" that I'm not too fond of. But the surroundings are very forgiving.
Sunset at Lake Toba
Sunset at Toba #2
View from our dinner table in Georgetown
Georgetown
There was a flood of hellomisters at the airport and it was really hard to get out of there without a taxi or a tuk tuk. But made it still and walked straight after the ATM to the nearest street vendor, bought some of their "something in a dough, served with fresh green chilies". Also got a very vague instructions about taking a bus to the city. Well, after finding the bus stop and boarding one - errm, bus? - i was greeted with three teenaged indonesian girls who all wanted to take a picture with me. They also were kind enough to tell me how to get a minibus, or a questionably modified Toyota Hiace that would be more describing, to the city. Actually everything went really quickly and I was almost tossed to a bus to Parapat because I mentioned the Danau Toba trip. Paid 22000 rupiahs for the 5 hour ride. Mind you that 14500 rupiahs equal to 1 euro, so it was basically nothing. I was quite in luck because the bus made it in front of the Tuk Tuk Ferry about 4 minutes before the last departure.
Wound up in a way more posh accommodation than I had planned, with hot water, bathtub, balcony and a double bed. Three and a half euros per night, so no complaints. And marijuana and magic mushrooms seem to be very common around here as two persons have already tried to sell me some. "Remember, I've got the good stuff! So just ask me..." And this coming from a waiter in the guesthouse restaurant. Reminds me of Goa a couple of years back.
The nature is awesome and the sunsets are stunning. Nothing much to do around here but chill out and relax. Might rent a scooter some day now and take a little ride around. There is supposed to be some hot springs about 50km from here. But if the road is anything like the trans-Sumatran highway, I don't want to risk my life in that traffic. It is quite chaotic and in the buses and restaurants people are just smoking all the time. Pretty different from Thailand or Malaysia, where smoking is much more controlled.
Easy and carefree staying, but apparently there are a lot of finns here so quite a lot of "mitta kuulu? Mitas mies? Mitas tasa!" that I'm not too fond of. But the surroundings are very forgiving.
Sunset at Lake Toba
Sunset at Toba #2
View from our dinner table in Georgetown
Georgetown
They are quite big... Petronas towers in KL.
sunnuntai 6. syyskuuta 2009
Kuala Lumpur
In spite of being labeled as a person who is doing nothing during his travels but blogging, here is the second entry for today:
I really like KL. The atmosphere is really nice, the infrastructure is good (although not really pedestrian friendly) and prices are right. I was just walking around town for about four hours and could really see myself spending more time in here. Maybe even live for a few months/years. I just wish I would have gotten the feeling in Bangkok. :D But I guess only the next visit there will really tell me how I feel about it.
As of now it is sad to leave, but most likely I'll be back for a round two soon enough.
I really like KL. The atmosphere is really nice, the infrastructure is good (although not really pedestrian friendly) and prices are right. I was just walking around town for about four hours and could really see myself spending more time in here. Maybe even live for a few months/years. I just wish I would have gotten the feeling in Bangkok. :D But I guess only the next visit there will really tell me how I feel about it.
As of now it is sad to leave, but most likely I'll be back for a round two soon enough.
lauantai 5. syyskuuta 2009
Snake temple
Yesterday I visited the notorious snake temple of Penang. Now, when I think of a snake temple, I think of an Indiana Jones -type of snake temple crawling with reptiles. So understandably I was somewhat underwhelmed by the seven sleeping snakes in an otherwise just a normal buddhist temple. In my opinion not worth the 45 minute busride. Or it would have been 45 minutes should the driver actually have kept his word and told me where to get off and not drive me up all the way to the airport... Well, everything worked out after a while and it only took like 30 extra minutes. Thankfully the weather was too nice for me to be able to stress about such things. I would have to kill some time anyways as my train was leaving at 9pm. Sadly it is Ramadan, so the awesome-looking food fair in Georgetown opened after the last ferry to Butterworth left so I had to settle for some generic indian food in the Little India. Rice was cold, chicken korma not very tasty but at least the naan was top-notch. And all that and a pepsi for a bit under 10 RM or 2 euros is still quite bearable.
The train was quite nice (40RM, upper bed in sleeper car) but as can be mathematically proven, a 181cm person cannot really sleep comfortably in a 180cm long bed. Especially if he has to have his backpack in there as well.
So at 5am when I arrived to KL, I was actually kind of happy that I was travelling alone and being able to just go and sleep in the departure hall for 3-4 hours more without having a well-rested travel partner with me. After the extra sleep (and a latte from Starbucks) I was set to find some accommodation. Walking towards chinatown and after checking out some places I got a room that was actually even smaller than the one in Bangkok. But it didn't smell funny and there were no bed bugs (at Oasis Guesthouse, 20RM single room) so I was kind of happy with the hostel. Still feeling like just running around (or how does 4 countries and 3 capitals within one week sound?) so hopefully my stay in Indonesia will bring the pace down a little bit. I've heard that Toba is perfect for relaxing. :)
Tomorrow morning to the airport and a flight to Medan. Now to see if I can find some suspect meat on a stick from some chinese food cart.
The train was quite nice (40RM, upper bed in sleeper car) but as can be mathematically proven, a 181cm person cannot really sleep comfortably in a 180cm long bed. Especially if he has to have his backpack in there as well.
So at 5am when I arrived to KL, I was actually kind of happy that I was travelling alone and being able to just go and sleep in the departure hall for 3-4 hours more without having a well-rested travel partner with me. After the extra sleep (and a latte from Starbucks) I was set to find some accommodation. Walking towards chinatown and after checking out some places I got a room that was actually even smaller than the one in Bangkok. But it didn't smell funny and there were no bed bugs (at Oasis Guesthouse, 20RM single room) so I was kind of happy with the hostel. Still feeling like just running around (or how does 4 countries and 3 capitals within one week sound?) so hopefully my stay in Indonesia will bring the pace down a little bit. I've heard that Toba is perfect for relaxing. :)
Tomorrow morning to the airport and a flight to Medan. Now to see if I can find some suspect meat on a stick from some chinese food cart.
perjantai 4. syyskuuta 2009
Hello Malaysia!
I actually got on the train and everything went really smoothly. Had an authentic "soup of the day" at the train station canteen and as great as it tasted, it was still a bit weird to have maybe four different ingredients you couldn't really put your finger on. It was supposed to be a pork noodle soup but some of the white, semi-elastic balls tasted a lot like seafood... But nice still.
I arrived to Butterworth after an 24 hour train trip. Sleeper car with AC, so pretty comfortable and nice (1120 baht). Lacks the atmosphere of Indian trains though. Food was good there as well, so still a perfect score for Thai food from my experiences so far.
I am spending the night in Georgetown, a 15 minute ferry ride from Butterworth (1,2 Riggit). I am sharing my dorm with two brits and we visited one temple up in the hills and hiked to the top of the "mountain". Sweaty and fun, but the view was maybe not totally worth the trouble after all. :) Back to the city and some food from a streetcorner stand. Mindless strolling around the town before coming back to the guesthouse (12 Riggits, dorm bed). Tomorrow evening I will be heading once again with an overnight train toKualla, Kualalu, Kua-la
I arrived to Butterworth after an 24 hour train trip. Sleeper car with AC, so pretty comfortable and nice (1120 baht). Lacks the atmosphere of Indian trains though. Food was good there as well, so still a perfect score for Thai food from my experiences so far.
I am spending the night in Georgetown, a 15 minute ferry ride from Butterworth (1,2 Riggit). I am sharing my dorm with two brits and we visited one temple up in the hills and hiked to the top of the "mountain". Sweaty and fun, but the view was maybe not totally worth the trouble after all. :) Back to the city and some food from a streetcorner stand. Mindless strolling around the town before coming back to the guesthouse (12 Riggits, dorm bed). Tomorrow evening I will be heading once again with an overnight train to
keskiviikko 2. syyskuuta 2009
Necessities
I am heading off towards Malaysia and Indonesia without a guide book. It would be a nice tool every now and then, but people could live happily even without cell phones at some time...
So we'll see how it goes.
So we'll see how it goes.
Pushing my luck
For me, Khao San road was seen rather quickly. Lots of people, lots of bars, lots of services (Fish massage! Feed our hungry fish with you dead skin!) and lots of food stands. If you are in to drinking and clubbing I guess it really is the place to be. At least you might want to check it out. Personally I am planning on taking an overnight train to Malaysia tomorrow. I haven't got a ticket but am still kind of hoping I can get one from the train station tomorrow...
Here is some price information:
Bus to Khao San road from airport, 150 baht
Single room in Khao San, 250 baht
Internet: 20-40 baht/hour
Pad Thai from a street stall: 20-40 baht (veggie-chicken)
The Pad Thais are really nice. Cooked in front of you and you are free to cast in the desired amount of spices yourself. So if you want to eat cheap, take a veggie portion (add 5baht for one egg) and throw in as many spoonfuls of crushed peanuts as you dare. The egg and nuts should keep you filled for a while. But be careful with the chili, no matter how delicious it might look and how accustomed to it you think you are. :)
Otherwise Bangkok is one of the largest cities I've been in with only London coming close and Mumbai topping it. And from an overall view, Bangkok has a lot more of a metropolitan view to it with more skyscrapers and more rats than the two combined. Nice place to stop by, but staying here now would have made for a quite a boring blog. So hopefully tomorrow I will be southbound.
Here is some price information:
Bus to Khao San road from airport, 150 baht
Single room in Khao San, 250 baht
Internet: 20-40 baht/hour
Pad Thai from a street stall: 20-40 baht (veggie-chicken)
The Pad Thais are really nice. Cooked in front of you and you are free to cast in the desired amount of spices yourself. So if you want to eat cheap, take a veggie portion (add 5baht for one egg) and throw in as many spoonfuls of crushed peanuts as you dare. The egg and nuts should keep you filled for a while. But be careful with the chili, no matter how delicious it might look and how accustomed to it you think you are. :)
Otherwise Bangkok is one of the largest cities I've been in with only London coming close and Mumbai topping it. And from an overall view, Bangkok has a lot more of a metropolitan view to it with more skyscrapers and more rats than the two combined. Nice place to stop by, but staying here now would have made for a quite a boring blog. So hopefully tomorrow I will be southbound.
City of angels
The heat strikes you instantly as you come out from the airport. It fills your lungs with a heavy mixture of air, moisture and pollution. On your skin it feels like you are covered with warm rags all over. You get used to it fairly quickly but come across an air-conditioned area and you are in for the same treatment over and over...
I took a bus from the airport directly to Khao San road. "The" traveller centre of South-East Asia. Signed myself in to a fairly nice hostel (had a bed, always a plus) and mainly went to bed somewhere around 7pm local time. I couldn't really sleep on the airplane and the four hour time difference seems to have taken its toll on me.
Last night I just grabbed some Pad Thai from a street vendor, bought some water from a local 7-eleven and wandered around the local streets and alleyways until I got lost. Got a bit more systematic and in a truly masculine fashion found myself back on my own. Best hour ever spent for a five-minute walk...
I am still totally unaware of the time. It tells me on the screen that it's around 4:14 pm but I feel like I would be ready for the bed soon. It's around noon in Finland, but it feels like 10pm. Hello jetlag.
I took a bus from the airport directly to Khao San road. "The" traveller centre of South-East Asia. Signed myself in to a fairly nice hostel (had a bed, always a plus) and mainly went to bed somewhere around 7pm local time. I couldn't really sleep on the airplane and the four hour time difference seems to have taken its toll on me.
Last night I just grabbed some Pad Thai from a street vendor, bought some water from a local 7-eleven and wandered around the local streets and alleyways until I got lost. Got a bit more systematic and in a truly masculine fashion found myself back on my own. Best hour ever spent for a five-minute walk...
I am still totally unaware of the time. It tells me on the screen that it's around 4:14 pm but I feel like I would be ready for the bed soon. It's around noon in Finland, but it feels like 10pm. Hello jetlag.
maanantai 31. elokuuta 2009
Travel fever
It is actually kind of annoying to be leaving late at night. You are already set in the mood, you've checked yourself in on the net and now you just have to wait for 11 hours more. Damn. The tingling in your stomach is much nicer when you have to wake up early and head straight for the airport. Now it is just slowly escalating hour by hour.
Feels like I have everything in check so really all I can do now is just wait.
perjantai 28. elokuuta 2009
Packed already?
Well, that certainly went a lot easier than I anticipated. The total weight of my carryings seems to be pretty much 15kg. Kind of light and easy, especially since I can fit my smaller day pack inside my rucksack so the whole weight can be easily carried with no fighting with extra straps or anything. It is really starting to feel like the trip is about to start...
Only problem I have faced packing was that I forgot my travel towel to a friends house. And should one still need to emphasize the importance of a towel, I shall hereby quote the ever-amusing text of Douglas Adams:
Only problem I have faced packing was that I forgot my travel towel to a friends house. And should one still need to emphasize the importance of a towel, I shall hereby quote the ever-amusing text of Douglas Adams:
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.But fear not, I will just have to make a small detour and my set is complete. :)
Packing once again
How come is it that I always leave everything to the absolutely last possible moment? I would like to go and sleep soon but I still have pretty much everything spread open on my bed. Tomorrow morning to Helsinki, a couple of nights there and on Monday my plane leaves. So that means that I need to be packed and ready to go tomorrow morning.
But I am really not stressing over it that much. As long as I have my passport, plane tickets and some money I'll be fine. Kind of takes the motivation out of me but I guess I should still throw in some more pieces of clothing or something. And my toothbrush.
But somehow I just couldn't be bothered to do that...Things have a tendency to sort out one way or another. They always have.
But I am really not stressing over it that much. As long as I have my passport, plane tickets and some money I'll be fine. Kind of takes the motivation out of me but I guess I should still throw in some more pieces of clothing or something. And my toothbrush.
But somehow I just couldn't be bothered to do that...Things have a tendency to sort out one way or another. They always have.
keskiviikko 26. elokuuta 2009
Getting real
I just realized that I need to be packed and ready to go on friday. Weekend in Helsinki and the flight will leave on monday evening. I just booked myself a 21€ flight from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia for September 7th. So initially not much of Thailand but mostly heading south to Malaysia and after that to Indonesia.
I have been checking out some surf camps and there are some quite appealing all-inclusive offerings for $35 per day. Food, accommodation, teaching and the gear. Could easily imagine doing that for a few days. I've also heard that there are lots of seasoned pro surfers around Indonesia willing to teach you for money, but still an actual establishment seems nicer to me.
But anyway... After arriving to Indonesia I will most likely stay in Medan for one night and then head towards one of the largest (if not the largest) calderas in existence: Lake Toba. I've heard quite a lot of positive things about the place so I want to see it for myself.
The next fixed date after that is around Septeber 28th when I should be meeting a friend of mine - probably somewhere in Malaysia.
I have been checking out some surf camps and there are some quite appealing all-inclusive offerings for $35 per day. Food, accommodation, teaching and the gear. Could easily imagine doing that for a few days. I've also heard that there are lots of seasoned pro surfers around Indonesia willing to teach you for money, but still an actual establishment seems nicer to me.
But anyway... After arriving to Indonesia I will most likely stay in Medan for one night and then head towards one of the largest (if not the largest) calderas in existence: Lake Toba. I've heard quite a lot of positive things about the place so I want to see it for myself.
The next fixed date after that is around Septeber 28th when I should be meeting a friend of mine - probably somewhere in Malaysia.
tiistai 25. elokuuta 2009
Travel plans
Last year I had a google map about my travels but that was a pain in the ass to maintain so I am now trying the dopplr-integration for change. You can still google the places if they seem unfamiliar but generally it is a lot easier for me to just type in the planned places than to draw lines on a virtual map. But it is definitely not a fixed plan but merely a sketch of my travel plans and thusly highly likely to change.
Redundancy
I like two keep two cards with me when traveling. One is Visa Electron and the other is a hybrid debit/credit MasterCard. The electron works surprisingly well all around but sometimes the reader only accepts "old fashioned" cards. It is a bit problematic as the MasterCard is nowadays also functioning like the electron because of its SEPA compatibility. Marvellous in theory but in practice it mostly just renders the card unusable wherever the Electron is not working either.
Anyway, I have a bad habit of mainly using just one of the cards at a time and generally I don't use the credit card at all. So now the situation is that I have been using only my electron for about 10 months straight without ever feeling the urge to wave around my ostentatiously flashy faux platinum MasterCard. During that time though, I have managed to forget my PIN code for the aforementioned card. Technically it's not a problem, just order the code from my bank but the funny thing is that before going to India last year I had exactly the same problem, that time just with the Electron.
Last october I actually managed to even lock my Electron two days prior to the departure by trying the wrong numbers one too many times. After the vehement PIN code recollecting I managed to screw up my mind in a way that I couldn't even press the right digits for my MasterCard card anymore! And I had been using that one for a few years without any problems. Luckily I managed to just sleep it off and the numbers were in my muscle memory but apparently I haven't learned anything from that.
Technically a good way to avoid situations like these would be to invent an imaginary person and add him to your mobile phone contacts. Phone number would be something incorporating your pin code. Then it would be available whenever you might need it... Retrospectively that actually feels like a brilliant idea all of a sudden. And no, it doesn't make me feel any better about it.
Anyway, I have a bad habit of mainly using just one of the cards at a time and generally I don't use the credit card at all. So now the situation is that I have been using only my electron for about 10 months straight without ever feeling the urge to wave around my ostentatiously flashy faux platinum MasterCard. During that time though, I have managed to forget my PIN code for the aforementioned card. Technically it's not a problem, just order the code from my bank but the funny thing is that before going to India last year I had exactly the same problem, that time just with the Electron.
Last october I actually managed to even lock my Electron two days prior to the departure by trying the wrong numbers one too many times. After the vehement PIN code recollecting I managed to screw up my mind in a way that I couldn't even press the right digits for my MasterCard card anymore! And I had been using that one for a few years without any problems. Luckily I managed to just sleep it off and the numbers were in my muscle memory but apparently I haven't learned anything from that.
Technically a good way to avoid situations like these would be to invent an imaginary person and add him to your mobile phone contacts. Phone number would be something incorporating your pin code. Then it would be available whenever you might need it... Retrospectively that actually feels like a brilliant idea all of a sudden. And no, it doesn't make me feel any better about it.
maanantai 24. elokuuta 2009
Net, set, go!
The mosquito net arrived today and managed to amuse me quite a lot. First of all just getting it in time was a nice thing overall. Secondly the lovely people at the Wiggle warehouse had put a small pack of Haribo Kiddies' SuperMix Mini's to the box. Always a pleasant surprise to get some unexpected extra and with your order.
Another topic of amusement was the Patented Lifesystems MicroNET Integrated Hanging Solution™ that was delivered with the net itself and presented here in the lower left corner of the picture:
Somehow I was expecting something a bit more high tech...
Another topic of amusement was the Patented Lifesystems MicroNET Integrated Hanging Solution™ that was delivered with the net itself and presented here in the lower left corner of the picture:
Somehow I was expecting something a bit more high tech...
torstai 20. elokuuta 2009
Nice morning
Thankfully I live around the southern parts of Finland so the lovely August mornings are just metaphorically freezing and the temperature doesn't go below zero... But it is always nice to see the friendly "caution, the road might be frozen" signal light during the summer months.
11 days.
maanantai 17. elokuuta 2009
Visafied!
I shall now officially stand up and salute the swift employees of the Royal Thai Embassy in Helsinki. I left the application last Thursday and already on Friday it was processed, granted and shipped to me. So I got the visa delivered to my home address in 2 working days. One for the processing and one for delivery. Wow. I am impressed.
Also I would recommend Kilroy Travels for getting "student priced" plane tickets for yourself. Finnair for example grants the youth discount for people under 26 but if you are a student, you get some extra time to fly moderately cheaply. You just need an ISIC student card and it can be purchased with the plane tickets straight from their website. It also took just two days to arrive so they are really doing their jobs well in there as well.
Let's just wait and see how the parcel from UK arrives. I hope my bad luck with waiting ended with the invitation letter, but still I am keeping my fingers crossed and not just trusting blindly for everything to work out. Even though it always does one way or another, my trust in the british postal service has been dented by some nice experiences from friends living in London. But we'll see.
Also I would recommend Kilroy Travels for getting "student priced" plane tickets for yourself. Finnair for example grants the youth discount for people under 26 but if you are a student, you get some extra time to fly moderately cheaply. You just need an ISIC student card and it can be purchased with the plane tickets straight from their website. It also took just two days to arrive so they are really doing their jobs well in there as well.
Let's just wait and see how the parcel from UK arrives. I hope my bad luck with waiting ended with the invitation letter, but still I am keeping my fingers crossed and not just trusting blindly for everything to work out. Even though it always does one way or another, my trust in the british postal service has been dented by some nice experiences from friends living in London. But we'll see.
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